Desertion
by FelsGoddess
Summary: War has broke out between the Galactic Alliance and the Chiss. Jag's wife is dying and his daughter is missing. Both sides appear to be guilty. His only choice is to fight alone and nothing will prepare him for the real enemy.
1. Chapter 1

Desertion

Disclaimer: Star Wars is not mine.

Chapter 1

In Chiss race, emotions were not displayed. Children did not laugh and play or make a sound in public. Adults did not express themselves. The beings were as frozen as the ice planet they lived on. Thus, it was rare to hear a child's laugh with their parent.

General Jagged Fel of the Chiss Defense Force's daughter was the cause of such a noise. Lydia Fel raced up across the landing pad to her father's waiting arms. He scooped up the small child. Lydia giggled in her father's arms.

"Were you a good girl for Aunt Wyn while mommy and I were gone?"

Lydia nodded, "Yes."

"Good. Mommy will be home in about an hour, in time to tuck you in for bed. She had to stop at the office really quick."

"Okay," Lydia nodded as Jag put her down. He grabbed her hand after picking up his duffel bag and made his way across the landing pad to his sister. She greeted him with a hug. It was cold outside. They hurried into the hovercar and drove home, Lydia chatting all the way.

Mrs. Fel did not make it home however, as Jag has suspected would happen. As Jag closed the door to his daughter's room for the night, he could see the expectant look on his sister's face.

"How is she?" Wyn asked without preamble.

"Not good. The cancer is spreading." Jag responded quickly, "There is nothing they can do."

"Are you sure?"

Jag nodded, "The Chiss are not capable of developing the same type of cancer humans are. Their doctors can't treat it and with how the relations are with the Galactic Alliance, there is no way we can get help. Just flying there alone would be impossible."

"I can't believe you aren't even going to try," Wyn stated, "She's your wife!"

"I know! I've tried to find a way, but there isn't one! A ship cannot even live Csilla without some type of military escort. We are at war. No one is going to help us," Jag snapped bitterly sinking on the couch.

"What about Uncle Wedge?"

"He's on Corellia in hiding. There is no way for us to contact him," Jag muttered, "I've tried. We are going to take her to a hospital in the former Imperial sector. That's our last hope."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. I'm taking Lydia with us. I want her to see her mother as much as possible in case the worst happens," Jag stated, rising, "Thank you for staying with her."

"Jag, if you need me to come to, I will."

"No," Jag answered firmly, "you've taken enough time off work."

"Promise me that if you need me, you'll call."

"I will."

Wyn nodded and hugged him. She picked up her small bag and left the house. Jag sank back down on the couch sighing. He didn't know what to do anymore. Everything had gone to hell.

Jag turned as he heard Lydia's door open, "What are you doing up, sweetie?"

"Daddy, is mommy okay?" Lydia asked as she walked over to the couch.

Jag helped her up next to him, "Honey, remember that mommy has been really sick. She had to go back to the doctor."

"Will she be okay?" Lydia asked, staring at her dad with wide, brandy-brown eyes.

"Tomorrow you, mommy, and I are all going to another planet that will try to make mommy better. You will get to see mommy in the morning," Jag stood up, "but now, you need to get some sleep before our trip tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, daddy," Lydia nodded and Jag took her back to bed. She was asleep in moments. Jag started at his little girl. She was six years old with her mother's brandy-brown eyes and curly blond hair that only could have come from Jag's mother. She was too young to lose her mother; her mother was too young to die.

Jag left the room, closing the door quietly. He needed to get to bed. The coming weeks would be the hardest of his life, he had a feeling. He needed his strength.

Galactic Alliance Admiral Trent Whitaker was not known for his kindness or sympathy. He was a hard man born of poverty and filth in the bowls of Corescant. He had lived in the waste of the Yuuzhang Vong changed planet, surviving on whatever he could find, avoiding captured until the Vong were defeated. Only through shear determination had he made it as far as he had. He had vowed those dark years that he would never be helpless again. No one could guess that the man standing in the front of the war room was a former store clerk with family and friends.

"Intelligence shows that the General Fel is leaving Csilla and heading former Imperial Territory. With him out of the way, we can make a strike for Csilla," Trent stated to the gathering in front of him.

"Sir, why are we waiting for Fel to leave?" a lower officer asked.

"Because Fel is our strongest adversary. He knows how we think and thanks to that wife of his, he knows more about us than any other outsider. With him gone, the Chiss will resort to the same old fighting tactics that we can and will defeat. They won't know what hit them."

"We don't know that Fel did not pass along the information his wife provided him with."

"Are you forgetting who the Chiss are? They hate Fel. They won't listen to his crackpot wife. If he hadn't been winning so much, they would have cast him off years ago. Anymore stupid questions?" Trent paused, clearly annoyed. No one spoke. "Good. Meeting adjourned. You have your assignments in your datapads. Get to it."

When the last solider had left the room, Officer Myriam Clark appeared. She was a hard woman with a steely gray stare.

"It's all in place."

"Good," he stated, walking to the door. Right before he went through it, he stated, "And remember, the child is NOT to be harmed."

"Yes, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lydia sat across from her father in the waiting room of the Stars End Medical Center on the small planet Ciselon. She had nothing to do while her mother was being examined. The waiting room did not have any toys that her doctor had. Her doctor had a dollhouse for her to play with. She did have to go away to another planet to go to the doctor though. The Chiss doctors weren't very nice to little children, Lydia thought. Her mommy took her to a nice human doctor nearby. She didn't go very much though.

"Mr. Fel? Your wife is in her room now," a nurse said as she stepped into the waiting room.

"Thank you," Jag replied, rising, "Come on, Lydia, let's go see mommy."

--

"Do you remember last time?"

Jag looked down at his wife. A few wisps of brown hair peaked out from her head wrap. Her cheeks were hallow, face drawn tight. Her brandy-brown eyes still sparkled with the burning passion and determination Jag had fallen in love with several years ago. Jag thought she was absolutely beautiful.

"I remember." The Fels had come to Ciselon for their honeymoon. Ciselon was a beautiful planet with winding canals and wide, rolling pastures. They had arrived two days after their wedding. On their first night they had taken a canal ride through city. The starry night and the street lights along the canals provided the perfect romantic setting. All along the canals were ornate buildings. Jag could see off in the distance the villa they had stayed in. The planet was just beautiful. Jag remembered the promised he had made that they would return on there on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. He hoped that he would be able to fulfill that promise.

Ciselon had a wonderful medical facility. Of course, Jag wouldn't have known that had he not gotten sick with the flu four days into their honeymoon. He hadn't wanted to go to a doctor, but his wife's stubborn nature would not allow him to wait. Jag remembered reading a pamphlet while he was being treated that stated that the Stars End Medical Center provided the best cancer treatment this side of the galaxy.

"Jagged?"

"Yes, beautiful?"

"Where is Lydia?" worried brown eyes met his green ones.

"She's at the hospital daycare."

"Oh. Jag, what-" A fit of coughing interrupted her statement. She couldn't stop. Jag rushed out of the room to find a nurse. He ran down the hall to the nurses station.

"My- my wife," he stammered, out of breath. The nurses understood him well enough and ran off. Jag clutched the counter for a moment to regain his breath, then bolted back to his wife's room. The door was closed. He could see through the window a doctor and two nurses helping his wife. An oxygen mask was being held on by one nurse. Jag turned his head, eyes filling with tears. His hand was pressed against the window. If she did not make it, he did not know what he would do.

_iPlease let her be okay/i_, Jag prayed, i_let her be okay./i_

--

Admiral Whitaker was not a patient man. His spies had indicated that Fel had landed on the planet Ciselon that morning. He could not launch the attacks till Fel was out of the way and could not order the kidnapping until the final member of the team arrived. He was half tempted to send the team off without her, but she was the best. This would only work with her involvement. Her presence alone would also throw Fel for a loop.

His desk comm came to life, "Major Whitesun has arrived."

"Send her in," Whitaker instructed. She was finally here.

A red-head of medium height walked into the room. She wore a dark brown cloak over a plain jumpsuit. Whitaker could see no weapons on her, but that didn't mean anything. Jedi were weapons by themselves.

"What is the assignment?" Whitesun asked shortly.

"Here," Whitaker handed her a datafile, "All the information is included. Launch is once you board. The ship is waiting at-"

Whitesun cut him off, "I'll find it."

"Can you handle this assignment?" Whitaker asked as she looked over the file.

"Yes, you know where my loyalties lie," Whitesun snapped, "And don't worry about the Jedi Code."

With that, Whitesun left the room. Whitaker sat back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. This was working better than he imagined. As for as everyone knew, Whitesun was just a talented Intelligence Major. He knew the truth, however. He knew who she really was, or had been. She was just like him, another victim of the Yuuzhang Vong war. Her life had been ruined just as his had. It had taken her a little while longer to become what she had, but she was just like him: hard, cold, and ruthless. Being a kind person did not keep you alive. The galaxy stabbed its heroes in the back. It didn't care. Everyone was on there own. Whitaker had learned that on Corescant under the rule of the Vong.

Trent Whitaker had owned a small shop in a Corescant neighborhood. He had a wife, Lily, and four children: Joshi, Mela, Travi, and Ela. When the war had started, Trent and his wife thought they were safe. As it drug on, they began to wonder if they should leave, but where would they go? The day Corescant was attacked; Lily had left with the twins, Mela and Travi, in a refugee ship. Trent had learned that that ship had been destroyed before making it out of the system. Mela and Travi were only five. Trent was supposed to take another ship with Joshi and Ela. There hadn't been enough room for all of them. He had thrown Ela aboard with a neighbor and ran with Joshi to the next ship. He had never seen Ela again. He had researched the ship once he joined the military. Her ship, the _Dream_, had escaped the Vong, but he could not find her. No one knew what had happened to his little girl. She was a mere three years old. Joshi and Trent had not escaped, however. Joshi was ten years old. He and Trent had found other survivors. The group had become nomads, hiding from the Vong, hunting for food. Many had been captured and killed. They had carried out this lifestyle for years. Even after the defeat of the Vong, the nomads had to struggle to survive. Joshi had made it out. He had joined the reconstruction team on Corescant once he was old enough. For awhile Joshi had tried to find Ela, but eventually accepted that they would never see her again. Trent knew that Joshi was still hoping, but it would do no good. Ela was gone. Hope was not something the universe offered. It was a false emotion.

Whitaker shook his head. There was no sense in dwelling on that. All that matter was the destruction of Chiss.

Nothing else.

--

Whitesun sat in the corner of the small shuttle taking the team to Ciselon. Whitesun did not like the mission, but she had to do it. She hated kidnapping, but Jagged Fel's child? Could she actually do that? She would have to. She had a history with Jag, but that had been over for a long time. He was married now. No matter what she felt, it was over. Wars had happened since they parted ways. He could not love her now. She did not even know what he was like now. He had been in so many battles, as had she. She was an empty shell, never to love again. He was a family man. She had known about his relationships after her. He had clearly moved on. Was she capable of ruining his life?

She did not have a choice. She would have to be.

--


End file.
